The first mental health community based-organizations (MH-CBO), outside the public mental health system only emerged in Portugal in the late 80's and through the 90's. These community supports consisted on housing programs, training and supported employment programs which came to inspire, as well as the international recommendations, the new body of legislation and development of services in community. However, in many cases, “to stay” in the community does not mean to participate and to be included in community contexts. Therefore we consider relevant to evaluate how MH-CBO’s are delivering interventions towards the social integration of people with mental illness.